Your Holiness,

Millions of my fellow citizens join me in rejoicing as I welcome you again on the soil of the Czech Republic. It is with emotion that I think at this moment of your visit here in April 1990, remembering its unforgettable atmosphere and its extraordinary significance to our national community. To all of us, your first visit was a great feast of spiritual freedom, making us keenly aware of the opening of a door that had so long been closed to us.

Many things have happened since then in this country and worldwide. It is gratifying to look back at what we have accomplished. Civil liberties and democratic institutions have been restored here, and the nation's economy has been put on a new footing. Yet, if these fundamental changes are to be truly valid, a spiritual and moral regeneration of the society must proceed along with them. I would, in fact, go so far as to say that they would have no chance of a lasting success otherwise.

In the realm of mentality, changes are often rather slow to come, or difficult to achieve. Eradicating the spiritual and moral distortions caused by the totalitarian regime takes a great deal more effort than, for example, replacing bad legislation. The mental state of the society is namely the result of an endless series of struggles which everyone has to wage within themselves.

The social climate during your present visit differs from that of 1990. The enthusiasm we felt then about our newly gained freedom has given way to more sober thinking about everyday life with its everyday cares. It may well be that, at this time, meeting you and all that you stand for is even more important, more relevant to the needs of the day. Before, we struggled with something outside us. Now, we have to turn to our hearts if we want to live up to the values which we put on our banners several years ago. Before, we laid the political and economic foundations of a free society. Now, we need to focus on the deeper preconditions of freedom, on the "ecology of freedom", the "human ecology" and the "social ecology" on which you have placed so much emphasis in your Encyclicals and statements.

The Catholic Church has been playing its spiritual role for nearly two thousand years. It is with profound respect that we acknowledge the significance of its work, its natural authority and its historical experience, listening carefully to its words - often your own words - through which it enhances our commitment to morality.

The Czech nation adopted Christianity at the very dawn of its history, and is proud to have been part of the Christian civilization ever since. It has embraced both a Catholic heritage and a notable tradition of the Reformation. A prominent place in our spiritual history belongs to John Hus, for whom Your Holiness has found words of appreciation, thus encouraging efforts by Czech Catholics to form a new, more sympathetic attitude toward his personality and his legacy. I should like to express my hope that the understanding among Christians of different denominations will continue to grow in future and that they shall work in unison for a common goal. Your Holiness personally has done an immense service to such understanding, and the Czechs very much appreciate that.

I am confident that in the environment of our new democracy, which has fully restored religious freedoms, Christian Churches will make a major contribution to the spiritual rebirth of our society. The Catholic Church, with many more members and a much wider background in this territory than other Churches, has a heightened responsibility. While those who openly declare themselves Roman Catholics constitute about one fifth of this country's population, the cultural influence of the Church undoubtedly extends wider.

Just as Christianity, and the Catholic Church as part of it, were an important component of our nation's life in the more distant past and, despite all the disfavour of the then self-appointed rulers, in the more recent history as well, they shall retain that position in future too. The great spiritual and moral authority of the Catholic Church should remain forever present in the life of our national community. I trust that it shall sensitively respond to the needs and feelings of the people living in our time and in this area, bringing us closer to one another and fostering our spiritual links with our neighbours in Europe and all people of good will on this planet.

Your Holiness,

The canonization of Agnes of Bohemia in Rome in 1989 and its celebration in Prague were a remarkable source of strength not only for Czech believers but for the whole nation. They thus became an inseparable component of the events of November 1989, undoubtedly instilling into that dramatic process of social change elements that helped accomplish it peacefully and with dignity. Such harmony of developments and human desires is certainly a rare and precious gift. It is my conviction that with your present visit, which is a very special occasion for this country, we are given such a gift again.

Holy Father, I thank you for being in our midst for a second time. You carry the message of the Gospel as well as of the Ten Commandments. I trust that you will remind us all of their words which remain valid forever.

Welcome to our country!